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“The summoning call that only a prime female can issue.” He lowered his chin and held Seth’s gaze. “The call your prime female issued, calling all four packs to Loperz Canyon.”
He glanced at Lorelei as a new layer of horror descended on him.
Prime female?
He pathed to her. Is that your take on this? Prime female? And if she did hold this position, what did that make him?
Lorelei’s eyes went wide. I don’t know what that means. Remember, I’ve never been part of a shifter pack, so I don’t know all the ranks or the terminology. I take it you don’t, either.
He shook his head. No, I don’t. At least, I’ve never heard this term before.
The alpha Cohoet spoke, his tone acerbic. “She doesn’t even know what she is, or what she’s doing here. This is fucking bullshit.” His voice rose as he leveled his gaze at her. “You don’t deserve this rank, Mistress Lorelei. Who the hell do you think you are, anyway, entering Walvashorr without deferring to me, or to one of the other alphas? You should have done that first before choosing a mate.”
Seth held Cohoet’s gaze, trying to grasp all that he was saying. What did he mean that Lorelei had already chosen a mate?
Glancing at her, the horrified expression in her eyes told him she wasn’t aware that she’d done any such thing.
There were so many issues at work that Seth couldn’t quite process what exactly was going on. But as he began analyzing and dissecting the situation, he realized that a new problem had risen, one closely associated with Lorelei’s shifter DNA. Cohoet had demeaned her and no wolf of character could let such a challenge go unanswered. He felt her anger kick into high gear, matching the same level of rage that ruled all of Big Timber right now.
He turned toward her, intending to calm her down, but she’d already launched into the air at Cohoet. In turn, the alpha braced himself with a smile, ready to do battle, even with a female in her weaker fae form.
Acting on instinct, however, Seth flew toward her, catching her around the waist midair. He swung her in a circle and though she fought against him, he brought her back to the snow-covered platform.
She panted hard, her muscles twitching, as she shoved against him trying to get free of his hold. She even showed a soft white ruff circling her throat, which sharpened the appearance of her now ruddy cheeks. Her fur hat had come slightly askew as well.
Lorelei, ease down. He held her tight. Her brown eyes wild as she glared at the alpha that had challenged her. I need you to come back to me. Look at me!
The command worked.
Lorelei turned her attention to him, blinking several times as she mentally shouted, What?
Get hold of your shifter-self right now.
She appeared startled, maybe by the stern tone of his telepathic voice.
Still, she ar
gued, But who the hell does Cohoet think he is, Seth? And what does he mean that I’m your prime female and that I’ve chosen you? That’s the bullshit here.
But as he stared into her eyes, as he thought about the reality that she was a blood rose as well as an anomaly in his world because of her unusual DNA, he wondered. What if you have chosen me? What if you are a prime female?
She finally ceased struggling against him, and he let her go. This is insane. She tugged at her hat, turning it slightly, straightening it out. Fur had even sprouted on her hands.
At least her temper had settled down, though now she paced back and forth. The white ruff around her neck spoke of her emotions as well as her shifter nature. The random thought streaked through his mind that he liked her show of fur at her wrists, hands and throat. He liked that she had a dominant shifter temper, earthy and wild. In this way, she balanced his stoic analytical nature.
Cohoet addressed Seth, nodding several times. “I approve that the mastyr can control his female. This is a good thing.”
Seth groaned his dismay, then quickly caught Lorelei around her waist as she once more leaped in Cohoet’s direction. Seth held her tight against him as she let loose verbally with her views on Cohoet’s attitudes and character.
“You sexist pig. Mastyr Seth wasn’t controlling me, he was speaking sense, but what the hell would you know about that? You treat your men like slaves and haven’t allowed a single woman to serve in your forces. You’re the least evolved shifter I’ve ever met.”
Cohoet was the only alpha who refused to allow women to join his regiment. The rest of the packs had nearly twenty percent inclusion of female shifter warriors in their ranks. But not Cohoet.
He heard some of the females from all over Big Timber shouting their encouragement to Lorelei as she continued her rant.
“And let me tell you something else, when I think of you as an alpha, I think of another word that begins with A that fits a lot better, and you know exactly what that is.” She continued on in this vein with Cohoet appearing almost bored, arms crossed over his massive chest. He had no use for women except in bed, to cook his meals, or to clean up after him.
Seth, however, now found himself in a ridiculous quandary. He needed her to calm the hell down, but her writhing body as she tried to pull away from him, sent desire for her rocketing through him once more.
